


The Burning Love Hypotheses

by doublejoint



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doublejoint/pseuds/doublejoint
Summary: “Have you looked at Remi lately?” says Varys. “I mean, you follow his gaze and it’s at the boss’s door, at his face, at his jacket on a chair...he’s got a pretty big crush.”
Relationships: Ignis Ex/Remi Puguna
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	The Burning Love Hypotheses

**Author's Note:**

> written for the spark of hope zine!

Hypothesis 1: Remi likes Ignis

Within two weeks, Lucia has carved a place for herself in Burning Rescue. More accurately, the place was there, and her new coworkers have obligingly made way for her to cram herself in and shape it around her to what she needs--and what they need, which frankly is a lot. Almost all of their equipment is outdated. They rely on far less government support than Freeze Force and thus receive fewer benefits of its scientific advances (though that comes with fewer obligations, and is therefore a better deal). They have grants, but using the money to hire consultants has clearly proven to be futile (and wasteful, if Lucia’s review of the old billing statements is any indication), and thus, they’d hired Lucia for full-time R&D. 

When they need everything, it’s best to start with the basics and get more specialized later on. But one can never be too prepared, so Lucia’s kept mental notes of everyone’s routines, and all the quirks and traits and mannerisms that could come into play for specialized gear and rescue formations.

Most of them are self-evident. Lucia could set a clock by Ignis’s coffee schedule: seven in the morning, quarter to eight, half past nine, and then again at three and three-thirty in the afternoon (barring when their duties have them out of the firehouse at those times--Ignis will then fill his large, chipped mug once when they return). Varys’s exercise routine is written on a piece of paper on the wall, and he sticks to it. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are for arms; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are for legs; core and cardio are every day. Each day’s routine is specific, and directly applicable to rescue situations. Because of this, Varys has been the easiest to design for; when Lucia can poke her head out from behind her computer and watch him, see his physical strength and his limitations, the ideas basically present themselves. 

When Aina wants to ask for something--whether she’s going to Varys to ask him to reach something on a high shelf, to Ignis so she can get permission to pick up her bike from the shop, to Remi to ask him for another copy of some paperwork that she’d misplaced, or even to Lucia to ask if she can play with Vinny for a bit (the answer is always yes, though Lucia can’t deny she’s a little jealous of how much Vinny likes Aina already), she always twirls the end of her hair around her finger. 

With Remi, the evidence is perhaps less empirical, but Lucia can safely call it a hypothesis. She has not had time to determine a method of testing it yet, let alone see if it stands up, but she’s fairly confident it will. The hypothesis is this: Remi has a crush on Ignis. Nearly everything Lucia notices about Remi ties back to it. One or two on their own can be dismissed, but all of it together keeps leading her back, like polygons on a chalkboard with so many congruent sides and angles. 

Remi knows Ignis’s coffee schedule by heart. Everyone probably does, but Remi never fails to get up fifteen minutes before Ignis is due for a refill, check the coffee pot, and make more when it’s empty. And he always lingers by the coffee pot as it’s brewing, as if to goad it into being done on time, oer perhaps to kill a few minutes before Ignis comes out of his office. He never seems to want a thank-you or praise, always pretends he wants more coffee for himself, and chats with Ignis for a bit if neither of them are too busy. Lucia never sees him more eager and engaged, including when they’re on a rescue mission. In fact, Remi’s always happy to hear Ignis’s voice; he perks up like Vinny does when he hears a rustling bag of potato chips. 

Lucia’s first impression of Remi was that he might turn out to be dour and too dry, but he’s much cuter than she’d thought he was.

When she lays out the evidence to Varys and Aina, Varys nods but Aina looks unconvinced.

“Are you sure?”

“Not totally,” says Lucia. “I haven’t had time to test the hypothesis.”

“Have you looked at Remi lately?” says Varys. “I mean, you follow his gaze and it’s at the boss’s door, at his face, at his jacket on a chair...he’s got a pretty big crush.”

Vinny squeaks, seemingly in agreement.

“I thought he was just making the coffee to be helpful,” says Aina. “We all know how hard Ignis works, and it’s easy to time when he gets the coffee and give yourself a break.”

“Would Remi give himself a break just because?” says Varys.

“If he penciled it into his schedule.”

Lucia sighs. Aina does have a point, and Lucia doesn’t know him well enough to say with certainty what he’d do for which reason.

“Hey, Remi!” she calls. 

Aina and Varys both freeze. 

“Yes?” says Remi, sticking his head out from behind the shelving unit, a file box in hand.

“Will you make some more coffee?”

“Do it yourself,” says Remi.

“You always make it for Boss…”

Remi almost drops his box; he glances own and then retreats back behind the shelves, but not before all of them can clearly see how bright a shade of pink he’s turned, almost like vodka sauce.

“That’s not the point,” Remi says, but if he’s looking to save face this is not the way.

Lucia shrugs, and looks pointedly at Aina.

“Okay, fine,” Aina whispers.

Hypothesis 2: Ignis likes Remi

On the Monday of Lucia’s fourth week, Ignis comes out of his office between the second and third cups of coffee, no mug in hand. He picks up the coffee pot, goes over to Remi’s desk, and tops off his cup. Lucia is too far away to be absolutely certain, but it looks an awful lot like a smile on Ignis’s face. 

It is, perhaps, a favor in return to Remi making him coffee all the time, or maybe a way of acknowledging Remi’s obvious feelings. It’s hard to tell with Ignis--Lucia’s probably spent the most one-on-one time with him out of everyone, and yet she still knows him the least. Maybe, she thinks, he likes Remi back, although she almost snorts at the thought. He’d be more subtle than that, especially if he knows Remi likes him and is looking for clues to pick up on. More likely, Lucia is looking for drama in her routine (as much as rescues can be) work life. 

She does not make a mental note of this development on Monday, but after Ignis calls Remi into his office on Tuesday and on Wednesday, and refills Remi’s coffee twice on Thursday, Lucia attaches that occurrence to her rapidly-filling mental page. 

“They’re talking about the new rookie the governor’s recommended hiring,” Varys says on Friday when he stops by to give Vinny a piece of pizza crust.

Lucia steals a slice for herself, sticking her tongue out at Varys before he complains. “Remi’s not HR.”

“No,” says Varys. “The boss brought up hiring for your position with all of us first.”

“Maybe he’s grooming Remi to be his successor,” says Lucia. “Like, they’ll hire the new guy and then Boss will step back.”

“He’d tell us, though,” says Varys. 

“Maybe he’s not hiring anyone and they’re doing something else in there,” Lucia says, waggling her eyebrows before she takes a bite out of her pizza--it’s spicier than she’d expected, but delicious. “What kind is this?”

“Volcano margherita,” says Varys. “And I doubt they’d do that where anyone could walk in.”

“Did they lock the door?”

Varys shrugs.

“Anyway,” says Lucia. “Supposing it is mutual, they’re not stupid enough not to notice or patient enough to wait it out.”

(That is just a conjecture and though it feels right to say it, it’s not evidence and supports nothing.)

Hypothesis 3: Ignis and Remi are dating

Lucia does not forget her hypotheses, but she has to table them for a while. First, she needs to deal with Galo; next, her new prototypes are in; after that, she’s got Galo’s matoi to design (bless him for knowing exactly what he wants). And then after that, everything with Mad Burnish and Governor Foresight happens, and she barely has time to think about anything other than the crisis as it happens.

There is so much to do after the end that her hypotheses still stay at the bottom of the stack, far from the forefront of her mind until they have relative quiet. Galo and Varys are gone, and Lucia has a stack of pizzas to share with Aina, her sister, and Vinny. Remi and Ignis are also nowhere to be seen, but Lucia chalks that up to separate duties or something auditing-related. There are so many questions about government science that she wants to ask Heris, and she’s really hungry.

Before she gets a chance to ask anything or get more than two bites into her first slice, Ignis and Remi walk into the firehouse holding hands. Aina coughs; Vinny squeaks; Heris keeps eating. Lucia blinks, and then does it again. They’re still holding hands.

“Hello,” says Ignis. “Can I have a slice?”

“Wait,” says Aina. “You two are—?”

“Dating, yes,” says Ignis, and Remi looks as if he’s biting back a huge smile.

An unexpected development, though really they’d had plenty of time to get together while everyone was distracted. Lucia isn’t even angry she hadn’t figured it out before now--but she does feel a little vindicated that her first two hypotheses can now be called theories.


End file.
